


There Are Bad Days And Then There Are Good Days

by RestlesslyRoaming



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Angst, Flashbacks, Fluff, M/M, a trip down memory lane, aftg, andriel - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-09
Updated: 2018-03-09
Packaged: 2019-03-28 21:57:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13912986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RestlesslyRoaming/pseuds/RestlesslyRoaming
Summary: Andrew knew it was going to be a bad day from the very moment his eyes crept open against the the dim morning light. He could hear the faint pitter patter of rain droplets hitting the window, feel the chill of a strained Fall breeze creeping through the cracks along the sill. It made him burrow further down into his blankets with a deep sigh, it made him wish he wasn’t alive.





	There Are Bad Days And Then There Are Good Days

Andrew knew it was going to be a bad day from the very moment his eyes crept open against the the dim morning light. He could hear the faint pitter patter of rain droplets hitting the window, feel the chill of a strained Fall breeze creeping through the cracks along the sill. It made him burrow further down into his blankets with a deep sigh, it made him wish he wasn’t alive. 

Today was definitely going to be a bad day.

When Andrew closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift back to sleep it felt almost as though the the darkness that was his demons pulled him back through time, bringing him back to the days spent in the Spear household. Andrew was fifteen years old again and naive. He could hear the sound of clean dishes clanking together as someone put them away where they belonged in the cupboards. The smell of freshly cooked bacon wafted from one room to the next. A woman’s warm, bubbly laugh sounded like birds singing and made the corners of Andrew’s lips twitch upwards, but not quite making it into a smile. The Spear household was a place of many memories, some good, some bad, and some even unspeakably terrible—yet it was still a place Andrew longed for and wanted so desperately to have been able to call his home. 

The further Andrew drifted the more vivid and alarming his memories became. In a matter of minutes he was no longer standing in what could have only been Cass’s sunshine filled kitchen and was now laying in a room alone surrounded by darkness. He recognized the room to be his own and his body tensed at the sound of the door creaking open behind him; his heart began to race in fear for what was to come. Drake was home that night and against him Andrew was powerless.

It seemed like hours passed while Andrew was locked in that room with Drake and once he was alone and completely undone he was stuck holding back tears as his small body trembled furiously. He hated this feeling of helplessness. He hated being too weak to protect himself. He hates the raspy way Drake called his name against his ear as Andrew begged and pleaded for him to stop. He hated being so vulnerable and the longer Andrew tried to rest the further away his demons pulled him, making it harder for him to see the light he had come to know and love. There was no telling how well he’d come back from this nightmare when he woke again.

Today was a very, very bad day.

“Kevin, I said stop!!”

The shout from a familiar voice in the next room over was enough to snap Andrew back to reality. He startled awake, throwing his body forward into a sitting position, strands of blonde hair sticking to his forehead. His heart was racing in his chest as his eyes darted around the room taking in his surroundings. Andrew was back in his dorm at Palmetto State, he was in bed at home and he was safe. 

“He’s been in bed all day, Neil, someone needs to wake him up,” Kevin’s voice called, the sound of his footsteps growing louder the closer he got to Andrew’s door. “I don’t care if he sleeps through his classes, that’s Andrew’s business, but he’s not missing practice.”

Another pair of footsteps could be heard running down the hall after Kevin, the movement was quick as the small thump of the next person’s footfalls stopped just outside the door. Andrew watched, waiting for the door to open up. The anticipation made his heart race a little more. He knew Drake wasn’t on the other side, and yet…

“Then I’ll be the one to wake him,” Neil argued as he shoved his way past Kevin, stretching his arms out against Andrew’s door as a means to keep him out. “If he’s still in bed this late in the afternoon then there’s obviously something wrong with him, and sorry to break it to you but you’re not exactly the compassionate type Kev.”

“Oh like you are?”

“For Andrew I can be, now just fuck off and let me take care of it.”

Kevin watched Neil for a moment or two in silence before finally releasing a small sigh and shoving his hands into his pockets, taking his time as he made his way back down the hall and away from the bedroom door, turning to look at Neil over his shoulder before turning the corner back towards the common area of their dorm. “We have practice at five, I expect you both to be there.”

Neil only offered Kevin a small nod in response before turning and knocking lightly on the Andrew’s door, warning him that he was coming in. He took a moment to lock the door behind him before turning to make his way over to the bed, his expression showering concern almost instantly after finally getting a good look at the sorry state Andrew was in, his lips turning downward into a frown. “Hey… sorry, did we wake you?”

Andrew didn’t answer him. Andrew didn’t even look at him. He ignored Neil’s question long enough to allow himself a moment to breath, to relax, to pretend nothing was wrong. He released a slow breath from his nostrils as he slicked back his sweaty hair and forced his usual blank expression to take up its place along his features. He slowly moved over on the bed to give Neil room to climb up next to him.

“Kevin swore you must have caught the cold that’s been going around, he was really upset when you were still in bed during lunch. It’s okay though, Aaron assured him idiots don’t catch colds,” Neil said, offering Andrew a small smile as he took up his spot on the mattress, making sure to leave enough space between the two of them that Andrew was still comfortable with his being there. Neil didn’t mind that Andrew didn’t answer his question as he was used to days like this after having been not-dating the Fox’s goalie for a few years now. He knew the signs of when it wasn’t a good day and tried his best to keep Andrew’s thoughts from wandering, letting his words fight back the shadows and fill the silence instead. 

Again Andrew said nothing in response to Neil’s pointless attempt at conversation, instead focusing on getting his heart rate to slow. He listened to the rapid downpour of the rain outside and thought it ridiculous that Kevin still expected them to go to practice. He listened to Neil’s faint breathing next to him and found it calming. He listened to the soft murmur of voices in the next room over and let them be a reminder that he was no longer in danger. He let the two of them sit in silence for what must have felt like ages if not an eternity and appreciated Neil’s patients. 

Neil...Neil was nothing like Drake. In fact, Neil wasn’t like anyone Andrew had ever been with before. He was something, someone, more concrete and real. He acknowledged Andrew’s boundaries and never tried to cross them. He cared for Andrew’s feeling but never stuck his nose in where it didn’t belong. He made smiling and small bouts of laughter not so foreign to Andrew anymore, those instances rare, special moments the two of them only ever shared together. Neil made him feel safe and gave him a reason to continue existing. Andrew hated him, but in all the right ways.

“Aaron would know, he never gets sick,” Andrew finally replied, his shoulders starting to relax as he held his hand out to Neil. “Yes or no?”

“You know the answers always yes, Drew, you don’t need to keep asking, but...are you sure?”

“I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t, you should know better than to ask stupid questions,” Andrew answered with a roll of his eyes, taking Neil’s hand in his own and pulling him in closer against himself as he laid their bodies back down against the mattress, pausing for just a second in contemplation before wrapping Neil’s arms around himself comfortably. The two were spooning and for once Neil was the big spoon.

The rare occurrence of affection was unexpected but completely welcomed by Neil as he tightened his hold around Andrew’s waist just a little bit more, not even bothering to try and hold back the smile that creeped against his cheeks. He knew today was a bad day for Andrew and therefore understood the importance that came with being trusted to lay so close to the smaller man’s back. It made Neil’s heart skip a beat as he watched Andrew settle against him with a fond expression. “Kevin’s not going to like this but I might have to skip practice today after all, something much more important just popped up. Guess I must have forgot.”

“Good because I’m not going out there in this rain, it’s gotten worse since I went back to sleep hours ago and I won’t get sick for you junkies and your stickball,” Andrew replied, ignoring the singsong way Neil spoke, his happiness at their current situation evident in his words. 

“How about I have Nicky buy us some pints of ice cream then and we’ll spend the rest of the day in here watching movies or reading or whatever you’re feeling up to?” 

Andrew didn’t bother to give Neil any sort of reply in confirmation of their evening plans but then again he didn’t really need one, the way Andrew finished closing any remaining gaps between their bodies and pulled the blankets back up to his chest being enough of an answer on its own for Neil to know this is where they’d be for the remainder of the night. Sure, Kevin would be mad if not furious and the two of them probably won’t hear the end of it for the next week or two but none of that mattered because in this moment Andrew felt safe and content with the world and that’s all either of them needed right now.

Today turned out not so bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> As always thank you all for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to let me know of any helpful criticism you might think of or just let me know what you thought in the comments!


End file.
